The Fan Outtakes for UWS
by mckeown
Summary: Fan requested Outtakes for my TFP story, United We Stand. Bumblebee's friendship with Starscream, Sparknight recognizing Soundwave, Megatron's parental guidance, Wheeljack looking bored as Autobots and Decepticons fight, and so much more to come! 2,000 HITS!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay, so here comes the first batch of Outtakes to my Transformers story:** _ **United We Stand**_ **, the following chapters are all pertaining to scenes requested by my reviewers, so if there is a scene you want to see send me a review and I'll get right to it.**

 **AN Spoiler Warning! If you have not read** _ **United We Stand**_ **I strongly encourage you to read it, as there will be references to that story throughout these chapters.**

 **This outtake takes place sometime during the 55** **th** **chapter.**

{ **Bumblebee and Starscream's Friendship** } – **requested by Guest**

Bumblebee sat in the rec room of the _Nemesis_ , using one servo to hold his cube of energon while his other held a pad. The ship was hardly functional yet, and security had to be kept tight in case any of the human governments tried to sneak in and gather intel. Megatron might have softened his outlook somewhat towards the humans thanks to the wards of Bumblebee, Arcee and Soundwave but that did not mean that the Lord Protector was going to allow the organics to just wander around.

Lifting his energon cube up, Bumblebee's blue optics glanced around the room and he paused when he saw Starscream. The seeker was sitting at a corner table, his back to the wall so that he could see everyone in the room and he was holding tightly onto an energon cube. The grounder belatedly remembered that Starscream had been assigned to working on the _Nemesis_ since the Twins no longer needed constant supervision, and the seeker's knowledge of the engineering specs of the ship rivaled all others.

Making a decision quickly, Bumblebee gathered his stuff and headed over to Starscream's table. The seeker watched his approach; his red optics narrowing but the grounder could see the apprehension in there as well. "Mind if I sit here?"

Starscream glanced around the rec room, noting the many other empty seats before looking back at Bumblebee, he sad nothing but he did incline his helm towards the seat directly opposite him. Bumblebee smiled and sat down, taking a sip of his energon drink before getting back to work on his pad. He could feel Starscream's eyes boring into him, watching every move he made but the grounder kept an air of calm about him. He made sure not to make any threatening moves while he drank and scrolled through the information on the pad, Bumblebee did not hurry but he knew he could not take his time either as Dreadwing was expecting him back soon.

Finally finishing off his cube, Bumblebee got up, ignoring the reaction of Starscream, who tensed, and gathered up his pad. "See you later, Starscream."

Bumblebee knew that those red optics followed him to the recyclable bin, where he put his empty energon cube, and were still on him as he exited the rec room. The grounder knew what had made him sit with Starscream, the feeling of mutual understanding because of the experiences they both had had thanks to the slave code.

Megatron had told Bumblebee that Starscream had been one of the few Decepticons who had not been had the slave code put into them previous to Megatron's uprising. Like Bumblebee, Starscream had become a victim to Shockwave's updated version of the golden council's old slave code and had been forced, like the grounder, to do things he normally would never have done. Bumblebee knew Starscream had not talked about the time he spent in Shockwave's lair with anyone, the seeker nearly always went very close into a panic mode should anyone bring it up. Knockout had tried to do sessions with him as he had with Bumblebee, but the seeker had been far from receptive. The only thing Starscream had taken from Knockout was the red medic's playlist of classical music, and that was as good as Knockout supposed the situation would get for the time being.

Bumblebee, however, was not so sure and he felt certain that while he worked on sealing the hull breaches on the _Nemesis_ he could also befriend the traumatized seeker. It certainly could not hurt to put forward the effort, as Bumblebee knew that getting Starscream to relax just a little bit more in company would ease the way for everyone else to get closer to him. The grounder felt sure that he was best candidate to work with Starscream, even though neither mech had liked each other prior to their individual capture and subsequent enslavement and Bumblebee was not exactly feeling chummy towards the seeker now, still the grounder knew, to some extent, what the other had been through and at the least he could offer an understanding if nothing else.

So that was how it started. Every energon break Bumblebee went to the rec room and sat with Starscream. He did not try to engage Starscream in conversation, beyond asking if he could sit with him and he was sure to always have a pad with him so as to keep himself occupied. The first few times Starscream did nothing but watch him, while guarding his own cube of energon, but after seeing that Bumblebee made no move to steal it the seeker began having his own pad with him to work on.

Four days passed before Starscream spoke, and when he did it was with a question Bumblebee was quite prepared to answer.

"Why are you sitting with me?"

Bumblebee looked up from his pad and stared at Starscream, letting him see nothing but sincerity in his optics as he replied, "Because I know what it's like to be alone."

Starscream snorted, "Don't get all sentimental on me, grounder. You hate me! They all hate me! I'm only staying here because I have no other place to go. Don't waste my time feeling sorry for me, I don't want your misplaced sympathy!"

Bumblebee remained calm, "You also stay here because you know no one here would do to you what Shockwave would do."

Starscream had stood up, but at Bumblebee's words he sat back down. "You speak as if you know what you're saying."

"I do know what I'm saying, Starscream. Shockwave made the slave code and then gave it to MECH, you remember them?" The seeker stiffened, he did indeed remember the human criminal organization that had stolen his T-cog. "Well, they ambushed me and Bulkhead, they took me and downloaded the slave code into me. I had no defenses against it, and was wholly unprepared for the things Silas made me do. I butchered humans because Silas was testing his control over me, their deaths were meaningless to him and he did not care who they were. Soldier or civilian, military base or airport, it mattered not. I almost gave in, that's something I haven't told anyone. It was after I attacked the military base and killed humans for the fist time. I was brought before Lockdown, and he offered me a place by his side and it was so tempting to accept the 'comfort' he offered when everything was so chaotic in my processor. Had he not mentioned needing a human test subject and wanting my help in procuring one I think I would have accepted his offer. However, when he said he wanted my help in bringing in a human I thought he meant Raf and I refused, locking away all my memories of my ward under a medical lock so even I could not access them. When I refused Lockdown beat me, but the pain was worth it knowing I had protected my little brother."

Starscream stared at him, his processor whirling, "Lockdown beat you? He used to beat me too. Shockwave would order me to obey the bounty hunter for a set amount of time and Lockdown would use me like a human punching bag. He took pleasure in messing with my wings, that was where it was the easiest to hurt me and he always left them in a mess that Shockwave would have to fix. I hated and feared him." Starscream tapped the table with his servo digits; "I was the one Shockwave had collecting human test subjects, and I had to clean up his work station after he was done mutilating them. When the first human survived the experiment I rejoiced, because I knew I wouldn't have to clean up any more body parts."

After that the mechs' meetings came easier and more frequent. Starscream was not always the first one to the rec room but Bumblebee tried to keep the seating arrangements the same so that the seeker would be at ease. Sometimes they spoke and Bumblebee would learn of the things Starscream had done for Shockwave and Lockdown, and sometimes they just sat in silence from which both of them found an understanding with each other.

Bumblebee found that in forging this acquaintance with Starscream his own dark memories were losing their weight in his processor. While he would always remember, Bumblebee was no longer haunted by what MECH had forced him to do and he had accepted the fact that there was nothing he could have done to stop Silas. He was innocent, and he believed that even though Starscream had initially forged an alliance with Shockwave, the seeker was innocent as well for he had had no more control over himself than Bumblebee had had.

"This is what friends do, isn't it?" Starscream asked, a year to the day Bumblebee had first sat down at his table. The steady thrum of the ship engines made a nice background noise and the rec room was only had a handful of Vehicons who were taking turns using the giant video game system Sunstreaker had installed.

Bumblebee looked up from where he had been studying the inner depths of his energon cube, "Yes, it is."

Starscream tilted his helm, red optics studying the yellow and black grounder, "Are we friends?"

The scout smiled, "Yes, I think we are."

The gray seeker snorted, "How did that ever happen?"

Bumblebee laughed and raised his cube to salute Starscream, and the seeker returned the gesture. Unlikely though the friendship had been at first it had happened and neither the seeker nor the grounder could say that they wished it had never been formed. "However it came about, Starscream, I am glad I chose to sit down here on that day."

"I'm glad you did, too, and that's all the sentiment you're going to get from me on the subject."

Bumblebee hid a grin behind his energon cube. Despite what Starscream said, the grounder suspected that the seeker was tremendously grateful for their friendship and Bumblebee felt that it was the best decision he had ever made.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: On with the show! This takes place after chapter 55.**

 **{Wheeljack's Diplomacy at its Best} requested by The Magnetic Witch**

All Wheeljack needed was a bucket of those energon snacks and this would be perfect. The former Autobot Wrecker was leaning against a large purplish boulder, his leg joints propped up on a smaller rock, the very picture of laziness. Wheeljack was surprised that he was not feeling bored, as he usually felt when there was a fight going on that he was not in, but the mech found himself oddly entertained.

Not more than seventy feet away, a Decepticon and an Autobot were having at it. Wheeljack had never seen the Autobot before, though judging by the red and white paint job and the mech's fighting style, the 'bot was young and not a warrior. Probably a medic, but Wheeljack had never seen one who had taken the healers' oath so violent in a fight. The Autobot looked more than upset, thoroughly ticked off by whatever the Decepticon had done and was not prepared to give any leeway.

For his own part, the Decepticon was giving as good as he got, but he too was not what Wheeljack would have labeled as 'an experienced fighter'. There was no real finesse to either of the combatants, as they appeared to be more willing to just punch at each other like two rookies who did not know how to fight. It was amusing to watch, and Wheeljack could not help but call out tips to both of them, especially since it made the Autobot and Decepticon mad.

"His armor plating is weaker near the arm joints," Wheeljack called, smirking as both fighters paused and looked at one another, no doubt trying to determine which one he was speaking to and about. The ex-Wrecker chortled as the Autobot medic and the Decepticon heavyweight then continued their fight, ignoring his suggestion.

He had certainly given them a shock when he had dropped in at what must have been the beginning of their fight. He had identified himself and given his former faction, to which the red and white Autobot had demanded his aid in defeating the Decepticon but when he said he was not an Autobot anymore the red and white mech called him a traitor while the Decepticon had asked, whilst avoiding a punch, if Wheeljack had switched sides like he had.

Since neither combatant would stop when he told them there was no longer a need to fight. The war was over, peace had been made, blah blah blah, needless to say it had not worked so Wheeljack decided to take a backseat and let the two fight it out. That seemed to be the best decision after all since Wheeljack was too wise in the art of war to foolishly think that he could break apart a fight that was being so furiously fought as this one.

For there was fury, Wheeljack could see that, but not the normal fury one found in a battle between Autobots and Decepticons. Wheeljack tilted his helm, watching the range of emotions between the two mechs, delivered with each punch and the silent words thrown at each other with their optics and frame language. There was a history here, Wheeljack was sure of it.

This was not simply a case of an Autobot stumbling upon a Decepticon and attacking because their factions were enemies, no, there was more to it than that. There was anger in the Autobot, a deep-seated anger that border lined on betrayal. The Decepticon was just an angry, but his was more of a frustrated anger and after studying his moves Wheeljack noted that the greenish gray mech was deliberately not going for any vital areas, though there were plenty to be found on the Autobot medic.

Definitely a history there, and Wheeljack suspected that the war was at the root of the bad energon between the two fighters.

"Go for the head!"

"Will you shut up already?" The Decepticon yelled, ducking a swing from the Autobot who had decided to take the ex-Wrecker's advice. "You're turning into a bothersome pest!"

"Pest?" Wheeljack was affronted, or at least his tone implied that he was even though he did not move. "Now, that's kinda rude, isn't it? Here I was, minding my own business, and I saw the two of ya scrapping away down here. Thought the least I could was come down and tell ya'll there's no need, but since ya won't listen I might as well stick around to make sure ya'll don't kill one another."

"I don't want to kill—"

The Autobot cut off the Decepticon's protest, "I'm not going to kill him! I'm going to tear him apart!"

"Is there a difference?" Wheeljack asked, now feeling a little bored. Bulkhead used to say that a bored Jackie was a dangerous Jackie. Wheeljack sighed, he had tried not to feel the pain of his old partner's death, he had tried not mourn Bulkhead and justified this action with the thought that he had avenged the green mech's death, but some days that was not enough. The truth was he missed Bulkhead, despite their differences of opinion Bulkhead had always been there for him; no matter what Wheeljack did he could always count on the big lug.

He owed it to Bulkhead to make sure the alliance Orion Prime and Megatron had forged was not destroyed, especially by two hotheads such as these.

A shift in the fight happened when the Autobot tripped the Decepticon, and the 'con fell to the blackish ground with a thud. Instantly the red and white mech was on top of him, transforming a servo into a blaster and leveling it at his enemy's faceplate. A blue blast hit the medic's servo, making it jerk and discharge harmlessly into the ground.

Both mechs looked at Wheeljack, who was no longer leaning against the boulder but had stood up and was holding his blaster aimed at them. "Now, that's enough of that."

"It is indeed." The Decepticon took advantage of the Autobot's distraction and flipped their positions, pinning the red and white mech in his far stronger grasp, "I think now you'll be willing to listen to me, won't you brother?"

"Hmph!" Wheeljack said, walking over to them, "I might have known this was a family feud."

"I've got nothing to say to you!" The Autobot spat. "You traitor!"

"Ouch," Wheeljack muttered. "That's harsh."

"I kind of deserve it," the Decepticon said, not letting up on his hold as he peered down into the blue optics below him. "But, Red, I swear to you that if you would just let me hook up a link to your CPU it will all make sense."

The Autobot did not answer, instead he tried furiously to break free of his brother's hold. Wheeljack watched with a growing smirk as the red and white mech's efforts proved to be fruitless. "Would ya mind introducing yourselves? Can't say I remember meeting with if ya on Cybertron during the war."

"That's because we weren't on Cybertron during the war." The Decepticon answered. "I am Brawl, and this is my little brother, Red Alert."

"Pleased to meet ya." Wheeljack crouched so that Red Alert could look at him without snapping his neck joints, "I must say, Red Alert, that you are the angriest medic I've ever seen. And I've seen quite a few who were down-right cranky."

"Scrap off!"

Brawl head-butted his brother, smashing the red and white helm into the ground for good measure, "You watch that language, Red, you may not like me right now but I'm still your big brother and I will scrub out your mouthpiece with polishing wax if you don't watch it. Now let's listen to what he has to say."

"It's not much really," Wheeljack shifted his weight. "Basically the war is over, Optimus Prime is now going by the name Orion Prime and he and Megatron forged an alliance and dissolved the factions. There are no more Autobots and Decepticons, we are now all Cybertronians, or from whichever colony planet we hail from, we can even distinguish ourselves by the cities we lived in if we want, and while Cybertron may be uninhabitable, there is a home waiting for those who want it on the organic planet, Earth, which has plenty of resources for everyone."

"If that was your definition of 'not much' I'd hate to hear the full version," Red Alert grumbled, having sagged in Brawl's grasp and was no longer struggling.

"Agreed," Brawl said, not letting up his tight hold even though Red Alert had gone still. The Decepticon might have been young and inexperienced on the battlefield, but that did not mean that he was going to be taken advantage by one of the oldest tricks in the book. "Although, I think I can guess as to why Optimus Prime changed his name and agreed to an alliance with Megatron. Does it have anything to do with a certain code being found and erased?"

Wheeljack was surprised, and found himself nodding in reply. "You know about protocol 371?"

Brawl sighed, "Red Alert and I are from the colony Velocitron, and the war did not reach our planet for a three hundred years. We had heard whispers of Megatron's rebellion of course, Autobot propaganda being the only video feed that we received, but on the Speed Planet there were not many who were concerned with anything beyond our own planet. When the war finally reached us both Red Alert and I signed up for the Autobot cause, we had both heard whispered stories of the atrocities the Decepticons were committing throughout our sparklinghood and youngling stage, and we wanted to keep our planet from being defiled by them. Prime's forces turned our world into an Autobot base and everyone was 'encouraged' to enlist. I was injured in my first combat zone and took a lot of damage to my helm. When I onlined I found that some things were not processing right in my CPU. Red Alert was my attending medic and so I lied to him when I said everything was working fine, but as soon as I was discharged I found some tools and operated on myself."

"Idiot!" Red Alert thrashed, glaring up at Brawl. "Do you have any idea the damage you could have done to your processor?"

"Yes, I did, but things were scrambled and not being computed right. My internal sensors were recognizing that there was a foreign code in my system but at the same time I my diagnostics were telling me everything was fine. So, yes, I cut myself open and it hurt, a lot, but I found the code and erased it. After it was gone I realized that it had been the Autobots who had put it in me, back when I had through my evaluation after had enlisted. I immediately went back to the medical bay and found Red Alert, I tried to get him to listen to me but he kept insisting that I had suffered CPU damage and needed to be treated at once."

"Because you had!" Red Alert shouted. "Just listen to yourself. You were obviously experiencing ghost feelings, that's why your CPU was confused and operating on yourself has only messed everything up! But it may not be too late, brother, I may be able to save you. Just let me get you back to my ship where I have all my medical tools and I'll—"

Wheeljack had had enough, so he pushed one digit in between Red Alert's neck joints until he found the medic's stasis lock button. The red and white mech powered down and went 'boneless', as the humans say, and Brawl slowly released him. "Sorry about that," Wheeljack apologized, though he did not sound sorry at all. "But I'd heard enough. Ya got to hand it to the golden council; they really knew how to mess with someone's processor. I can guess that when Red Alert would not believe you he gave the alarm when you refused treatment, and you ran to join the Decepticons. Then Red Alert was most likely outfitted with more codes to ensure his continued loyalty and with strategy chips on what to do should you ever come near him again."

Brawl stood and looked down at his unconscious brother, "I can believe that. Considering how hostile he had been when we met, I suspected that the Autobots had changed him further but never had the opportunity to overpower him and get him help."

"Well now ya do. Do you have a ship?" When Brawl nodded, Wheeljack continued, "I'll give ya Earth's coordinates and ya can take your brother there. Ratchet and Knockout have erased the council's codes before, I bet they can take care of your brother without doing any damage. When ya get there, tell Megatron or Prime where you met me and let them know I'm passing the word like they asked."

"You're not coming with me?" Brawl asked.

"Nope. There's lots more of the galaxy to see and still plenty of Autobots and Decepticons who don't know that the war is over. Since I'm the only one from Earth with a working ship at the moment I'm kinda like an unofficial ambassador," Wheeljack's mouthpiece twisted into a sardonic smile, if Bulkhead could hear him now the green lug would be laughing his chin guard piece off.

Wheeljack helped Brawl secure Red Alert on the greenish gray mech's ship and then he turned to leave, pausing to look back. "Oh, did ya really operate in yourself?"

Brawl grinned, "No, I just said that to see how he would react. I found a Decepticon medic named Flatline amongst the newest batch of prisoners some an Autobot specialist team had brought in and I held him at gunpoint while he operated."

Wheeljack chuckled and both mechs raised a servo in farewell before Brawl disappeared up the ramp. The ship lifted off and the ex-Wrecker watched it depart, then he turned and surveyed the area around him. This was a new planet and he was not in any hurry to leave, since he had only seen a small part of it because of the fight he had stumbled across. There might be more Cybertronians around, though he doubted it. Still, it would not hurt to walk around a bit before climbing back on board his ship.

"I did good, Bulk, didn't I?"

Wheeljack did not get a response, and he had not been expecting one anyway. Despite that though he did feel better in his spark for the good deed had done, for Red Alert might have off-lined his brother since Brawl had been so reluctant to hurt his younger sibling. If Red Alert had ever found his way to Earth on his own and been scrubbed of the command codes, the young medic would have had to bear the weight of being his brother's murderer.

" _You did good, Jackie_."

 **AN: Next up will be Megatron and Bumblebee.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Takes place after Chapter 55**

 **{Megatron and Bumblebee} - requested by Stitchar(who has been a steady reviewer from the beginning, thank you so much my friend!)**

Bumblebee gunned his engine, practically flying over the sand dunes given he spent more time soaring up and down then he did touching the actual ground. Checking his side-view mirrors, Bumblebee saw the seeker bearing down on him and he revved his engine in annoyance. He was running out of tricks, and still the pesky flyer clung to his trail like a hound dog.

Bumblebee snickered, wondering how the seeker would react if the scout compared him to one of the humans' best tracking animals. Given the temper of this particular mech who was tailing him, Bumblebee was sure that the comparison would not be well received. He was better off keeping it to himself, as a sort of private joke he could pull out for a rainy day. Yes, that was a better plan, and a much wiser course of action as staying silent would prolong his life a but longer and let it not be said that Bumblebee did not have a good sense of self-preservation.

The grounder pushed the pedal to the floor, making an outright break for speed in hopes of leaving the seeker far behind. He grinned internally when the seeker became a small speck in his mirror, up ahead his target loomed and his sensors narrowed in on the moving body. His little ward, Rafael Esquivel, was jumping up and down, waving his arms and shouting, but Bumblebee was too far away for his audios to pick up the words.

It did not matter though; he would reach Raf in five minutes with the speed he was driving at.

Bumblebee was too quick to crow for victory though, for that small dot in his mirror quickly grew in size until the seeker was boring down on him once again. Bumblebee felt fear sizzle up his circuits, and disbelief. There was no possible way the seeker would pass him before he reached Raf; the youngling was not going to let it happen!

His sensors blared in alarm the split second it took for his system to register that the mech seeker had charged his lasers and opened fire. Bumblebee swerved to avoid the shots and he hit a sand dune, rolling out of control until he landed upside down against another dune. The scout spun his tires in frustration before transforming, righting his frame as his peds made contact with the ground.

Not wasting a second, Bumblebee ran over the dune, not pausing at all as the seeker transformed as it passed Raf. A claw reached out as the seeker twirled over the small human, snatching up the boy who let out a yell at being picked up. The winged mech pulled Raf close to his chest plate and a red optic winked at the boy before the seeker looked up at Bumblebee's approach.

Bumblebee slid to a stop in front of Megatron and flared his door wings, "You cheated!"

Megatron raised an optic ridge, "Did I? And how did I do that?"

"You shot at me!" Bumblebee yelled, utterly indignant and not at all happy at how Raf tried to hide his chuckles behind his hands.

"I do not remember it being stipulated in the rules that we could not use our weapons," Megatron defended himself.

"It's a race! A test of speed! Not who can shoot the other out of the competition!"

Megatron was not ruffled by Bumblebee's fury, "That's not what my research told me."

"Research?"

"Yes. When you proposed this race I looked up the humans' definition of a race and the videos I found gave evidence that weapons are used, though I would never have taken to the extremes that those humans did."

The loud peals of laughter surrounded the two mechs and they looked down at the human boy, who was holding his sides as if they ached and very nearly laughing his head off. Megatron looked concerned and immediately held out his servo to Bumblebee, indicating that the scout should take his ward as soon as possible.

"Is he damaged?"'

Bumblebee chuckled, scooping up his charge from Megatron's grasp. "No, just laughing at our expense." They waited a few minutes and Raf finally got a grip on himself, smiling up at Bumblebee with tears in his eyes.

"I thought liquid gathering in their eyes meant they are in pain," Megatron murmured.

"It can, but it also happens when they laugh too hard."

Megatron made a sound of incredulity, "Humans are strange."

"Yes, they are." Bumblebee smiled, and then looked up at Megatron, "You still cheated by the way."

"And I maintain that there were no rules saying I could not employ my lasers to distract you. Therefore, I won the race and you will have to concede that seekers are faster than grounders. That being the case, you will have to 'pay up', as the humans say."

"Wait just a moment, we're going to let Raf be the judge of this." Looking down at the still grinning, but calmer, boy, Bumblebee put forth the most important question in the universe, "Who won the race, Raf, me or Megatron?"

Raf looked at Bumblebee, and then he looked at Megatron. Bumblebee tried to give him an encouraging look, no doubt trying to swing the boy to his side but Megatron made no movement in order to gain Raf's vote.

"I'm sorry, Bumblebee, but I am going to have to go with Megatron on this one. There weren't any rules that said Megatron couldn't use his lasers, and he was close to passing you anyway when he used them, so I'm going to say that Megatron was the fastest and that he won."

Bumblebee slumped and set Raf on the ground, who scampered off to rejoin his family who had watched safely from the sidelines. "So, little scout?"  
The grounder huffed, "Fine, seekers and faster than grounders, you win."

Megatron nodded, looking thoughtful, which was not a look Bumblebee liked seeing on his adoptive parental unit. "A good effort, little scout, but not good enough I'm afraid."

Bumblebee sighed, "What do you want?"  
"You will stand up in front of everyone assembled in the rec room and loudly proclaim that seekers are amazing, and the best Cybertronians in the universe. Seekers deserve to be recognized as the epitome of greatness and all grounders should count themselves lucky to be allowed in our presence." Megatron tapped a digit against his chin, of course if you want to put all of that into a rhyming poem and recite it that will be satisfactory as well."

Megatron walked away, grinning at how large Bumblebee's optics had gotten and that his mouthpiece was hanging open in shock.

"Oh, shoot me now," Bumblebee implored.

 **AN: Next up will be Soundwave and Sparknight.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Takes place after Chapter 55**

 **{Soundwave and Sparknight}- requested by** **Screamless**

It was good to be back on the _Nemesis_ , especially now that the ship was up and running at full capacity again. Soundwave ran his optics over the repaired bridge, still amazed at how the engineers had been able to fix the extensive damage. The bridge had been smashed in when the _Nemesis_ had marooned itself in the South American jungle, and when Soundwave had seen the state of the ship he had been doubtful its battle scars could ever be removed.

However, he was glad to have been proven wrong. For not only had the ship been repaired and the damage made to look nonexistent but the décor had been lightened up as well. Thanks to the resources proved to the Cybertronians by several human governments, the Nemesis had made steady repairs much to the relief of all those living in the Nevada base, which was a little too cramped and offered no private space for anyone.

Now, the members of the Cybertronian Outpost had two bases, one stationary and one mobile. It really made a difference as far as living quarters went and certainly upped the level of respect from some of the more annoying governmental officials. Soundwave locked his console down, leaving it running the welcoming message Lord Megatron and Orion Prime had put together which any of the remaining Autobot or Decepticon forces coming close to the system would be able to pick up. So far a few Decepticons had showed up, Cyclonus had led a rag-tag group he had managed to put together while searching the galaxy for sign of Megatron, with him had come Thundercracker and Skywarp, whom Starscream had been very glad to see.

Soundwave fully believed that the reunion of the Seeker Trine was very influential in healing Starscream, that and the strange friendship the sleek seeker had with Bumblebee, which did not end with the arrival of the former commander's wingmates.

Soundwave entered the elevator, taking the lift down a few floors to the quarters level. This was the usual time he took to visit Sparknight and work on healing her processor. Some days Soundwave was never sure if he was making any progress in reaching her, other days she seemed to regain some of her old self, as well as a few memories.

Despite the two years that had passed without any incidents, Lord Megatron had yet to relinquish his orders pertaining to Sparknight's treatment. Soundwave would have grumbled against this, had he a voice to do so, but he was actually kind of touched by Lord Protector's concern, though going to the medical bay to be poked and prodded by Knockout every time had gotten old very fast. Still, the rest was appreciated as every time Soundwave managed to realign shredded neural ways or piece memory pieces back together left him exhausted and in dire need of a recharge, but he would be the last to admit such a thing to a stuck-up medic like Knockout.

Reaching Sparknight's door, Soundwave nodded to the Vehicon on guard and keyed the code into the lock-pad. The door swished open and the telepathic seeker entered, finding the small femme exactly where he expected her, sitting on her berth playing one of those human games on a pad. She glanced up when he entered and smiled, as she usually did and raised a servo in greeting.

Without any prompting from Soundwave, Sparknight quit her game and lay down on the berth. This was progress the mech had been seeing for several months now, as Sparknight had first fought against relinquishing the game pad after she had first been introduced to it and was eve more reluctant to lie down without Soundwave sending a soothing frequency to calm her down. The fact that she trusted him now was not lost on him, but he knew it was only because he was the one Sparknight saw daily and that Soundwave had never hurt her. She had yet to recognize him as someone she had known before being rescued from Shockwave, but Soundwave held out on the hope that one day, any day now, she would really look at him and know him.

Soundwave sat down by the berth, and slowly raised his servos to brush against her helm. It was enough though, for now, to be with her and know she was safe, to be able to do all he could to make sure she was comfortable and no longer afraid of every mech or femme that she saw. The telepath had resolved to be patient, and had promised himself that even if she never fully recovered or even remembered him, he would still be there for her, every day, for the rest of her lifecycle, until one of them was called to the Well of Sparks.

Making sure Sparknight was relaxed; Soundwave slowly entered her mind, allowing the mental firewalls he had constructed to recognize him before moving further. He pushed past what was already healed and began steadily working on the first blackened area he came across. The damaged areas of Sparknight's processor looked like ripped, sparking wires, which he had to carefully bind back together with the correct counterpart, or he risked driving his friend towards a full processor meltdown, from which there would be no recovery.

It was 'snail work', long and drawn out, and had Soundwave been human his forehead would have been covered in perspiration. Not getting frustrated when searching for a wire's matching strand was hard, even after two years of work Soundwave still found himself battling his own control to remain calm so as not to worry Sparknight or lose his concentration. Depending on the damage, sometimes the wires would be too 'rusted to weave back together easily, or they would begin to unravel before he had fully bound them together.

After an hour's work, Soundwave felt something shift within Sparknight and he quickly withdrew from her processor. Looking down into the wide red optics of the femme, Soundwave held her down as her frame bucked and thrashed. Soundwave fought the panic that threatened to take over his own processor, he knew what was happening as it had happened before, just not as intense as this.

Once before Soundwave had repaired a part of Sparknight's processor that had triggered several memory files being scrubbed of their corrosion on their own, but this appeared to be on a much greater scale. Soundwave hoped that whatever memories were restored had nothing to do with Shockwave or Lockdown, he was not sure if Sparknight was strong enough to deal with that mental trauma all over again.

To distract himself, Soundwave ran his timer, keeping track of the time. Hopefully, the longer this fit lasted meant that more memories were being repaired. Soundwave could only hope.

Finally, after ten minutes, Sparknight stilled and blinked up at the ceiling in confusion. Soundwave stayed still, not even daring to draw an intake of air to cycle through his vents, he wanted her to make the first move. And she did, five minutes later.

Slowly, Sparknight turned her helm to look at him. Soundwave was sure his spark had stopped beating, for identifying that look in her optics as recognition was very tempting. A delicate servo was placed against his chest plates, directly over his spark-chamber, and Soundwave became very aware of its frantic thrumming in its casing.

"S— S-s-soundwave?" The voice was low, stuttering, the vocal chords strained from not having been used in so long.

While hearing Sparknight's voice threatened to send Soundwave into doing a 'victory dance' as Miko called them, he held himself in check. She could just be saying his name after all; it did not mean that she had really recognized him.

 _Yes. Yes, my name is Soundwave_.

Sparknight shook her helm, "N-n-no. S-s-soundwave. I kno-o-o-ow y-y-you. S-s-s-soundwave. Y-y-y-you were n-n-n-ot alwa-a-a-ays S-s-s-soundwave th-ough."

Although his welded mouthpiece could not smile, Soundwave felt his spark send out a burst of happiness that filled his whole frame, and threatened to make him dizzy. He could not keep himself still anymore, he reached for her, one servo settling over her own that was against his chassis, the other caressing her helm.

Yes, _Sparknight. Do— Do you remember what my name use to be_?  
She smiled, a look Soundwave was determined to encourage as much as possible. "B-b-b-b-blaster."

 **AN: Sorry for the wait everybody, hope you enjoyed that Screamless. Anyway, this is the last requested outtake I have so far, so if these are going to continue it's up to you guys.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thanks so much to those fans who requested more outtakes, I am loving the ideas you guys are giving me, and writing these is just a lot of fun!**

 **Takes place after Sparknight's and Soundwave's outtake.**

 **{Knockout} – requested by Mrs. Ukitake**

Knockout practically skipped onto the bridge, feeling slightly giddy as if he had drunk a few cubes of supreme grade energon. He so loved happy endings and he could barely wait to spread word around the ship, but first Lord Megatron had to be informed personally. After all, as heavily invested as the Lord Protector had been in his third-in-command's project he had the right to know what the outcome was.

"Knockout?" Megatron had turned towards the door when it had opened and he raised an optic ridge at seeing the senior medic on the bridge. Since there were no causes for espionage he knew Knockout was not here to fill that capacity, which only left medical as the Lord Protector was certain the red mech would not wander up here merely for conversation.

Knockout tried to keep the grin off his face, he really did, but this had been one case in which the medic had been sure Soundwave would prevail and Megatron, while not condemning the project had not wholly believed it would end well. "Lord Megatron, may I say that you are looking exceptionally well today, in fact the day itself could not be more beautiful. I am always astounded by this planet's organic nature, truly astonishing."

Megatron turned and looked out the port window. The _Nemesis_ was currently flying over the Atlantic Ocean at ten thousand feet. Being newly back in the air, Megatron did not want to strain the systems too much by trying taking the ship out into space just yet. A few more test runs to make sure everything was operating at peak efficiency would have to take place first before the Lord Protector would consent to taking the ship out of Earth's atmosphere. Besides, flying around made sure that the humans saw them and that there was nothing the governments could do about it. Megatron felt like a youngling for doing this, but it was so entertaining.

Turning back to Knockout, Megatron wondered how quickly he could restrain the medic and call up Ratchet from Base 1. "Is your processor functioning correctly, Knockout?"

The red medic looked affronted, "My processor is the same as it ever was!" Then, thinking that that was probably not as reassuring as he wanted it to be, Knockout added, "Ratchet gave me a checkup one week ago, sir, and you can be sure if he had found anything questioning he would have suspended me and informed you and Orion Prime."

Megatron nodded, yes that true, so there was nothing left for him to accept except that Knockout was inordinately pleased about something, which could only mean that is was something they had disagreed on.

"Well, what is it?" Megatron growled.

Knockout smirked, "I just want to take this moment, sir, in saying that as I was not directly involved and can therefore take no credit, I do not expect a recommendation for an honor medal. It is enough to know that I was right, but I shall refrain from reminding you of that fact every five minutes. Perhaps we could set aside this day as an anniversary, and remember as the day that Knockout was Proved Right, and of course as the day that Sparknight recognized Soundwave."

"She what?"

Knockout quickly shuttered his optics, the clicking sound confirming to Megatron and the bridge crew that the medic had just taken a picture.

"Knockout!"

"Forgive me, Lord Megatron, but your face— I just could not resist recording it, for my personal private collection of course, not for public domain."

Megatron drew in a cooling intake of air, allowing it to cycle through his frame, "She truly recognized him?"

Knockout nodded, "Autobot name and all. Of course, there is still a lot of damage left for Soundwave to repair, but it shouldn't be too long until she can start to make decisions for herself. I'm going to put together several game pads for her that require mental thought, as well as mathematical equations. Soundwave is adamant on taking it slow, of course, and not pushing for anything without Sparknight showing that she is ready. I recommend allowing interaction between her and the younger mechs, such as Bumblebee, and possibly even the wards, so as to get her used to others besides Soundwave and myself. Besides, she would have no memories of them and therefore they would not be able to trigger any kind of a flashback that could prove damaging."

Megatron nodded, "Work out a schedule with Soundwave, and make sure you do nothing without his authorization." Knockout gave him a look as if to say, 'who, me?'. "Dismissed."

Knockout made it to the door before Megatron called out, "Oh, and Knockout, if you ever saunter in here with your I-was-right-and-you-were-wrong attitude, I will have Dreadwing sand you down and not let you repaint yourself for a whole month."

Knockout's door wings stiffened in horror, "Never again, Lord Megatron, I swear!"

Then the medic ducked out of the bridge before the Lord Protector could change his mind. Knockout did not stop running until he was into the elevator and safely within it. Sighing in relief he leaned against the side. Megatron had mellowed, indeed all the former Decepticons had mellowed over the past year. Perhaps it was the interaction with the former Autobots, or the humans, but Knockout had noticed that even his own exterior had changed and he was not quite as darkly sarcastic as he had been before.

Knockout had been worried that they were becoming weak, this change had certainly affected their outlook towards the planet Earth and its primary ruling species. Therefore, even though Megatron's threat had done the trick, it had reassured Knockout that the former Decepticon warlord still had it and most likely would never lose it. Still, Megatron had mellowed, for in the past Knockout would never have dared to 'saunter' up to his leader, and such behavior would have gotten him blasted or beaten.

It said much for the future of their race if a mech like Megatron could keep his fighting edge and still be an efficient ruler while having a softer side to him.

The elevator dinged and Knockout stepped out, rubbing his servos together. Time to spread the word that Sparknight was making a comeback and that Soundwave had his femme 'friend' back. Who to tell first though?

Spotting a yellow and black mech just turning the corner ahead of him, Knockout grinned.

"Oh Bumblebee! Guess what I have to tell you!"

 **AN: Next issue will be the coming of Cyclonus, Thundercracker and Skywarp**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thank you to all who reviewed, favorited and followed, as well as those who made requests for more outtakes. Sorry for the long delay, had to really give this chapter some thought as there are new characters in this one and life has been a bit busy.**

 **This takes place before chapter 4 of the Outtakes.**

"English speech"

" _Cybertronian speech_ "

" **Transmission speech** "

{ _The Arrival of a bunch of Decepticon seekers}_ – **requested by Starfire201**

A triangle shaped ship appeared at the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy and came to a stop. Sensors and scanners were put on full alert, sweeping the entire area for hidden surprises and the crew of the _Vengeance_ waited in silence for the readouts to finish reporting back. It only took seconds but to the ship's captain time moved slower when your entire frame was tense in anticipation, the finger joints hovering over the flight controls, ready to move the ship away should there be any sign of hostile forces in the area.

Beeping from a nearby console alerted the bridge crew of the scanners' finished cycle.

" _Report_!" Cyclonus ordered, his purple and white frame the tallest of those present on the bridge.

" _There is a sensor grid of buoys around the system_ ," the red and black seeker, one of Cyclonus' Trine, reported, " _we've already been pinged_."

If it was possible, Cyclonus tensed even more, " _Was anything activated? Weapon platforms? Are there any ships approaching, Thrust_?"

" _None, the only thing in proximity is the sensor buoy off our starboard bow_." Thrust pushed a button, reading the display before looking at Cyclonus, " _The buoys are reading as Cybertronian make but they do not have any faction markers on them_."

" _Long range scans_?" Cyclonus asked, turning to look at the white and black seeker whose station was behind the captain.

" _Nothing but planets and a sun. The center planet seems to be only one inhabited, at least one capable of technology given the sensor grid surrounding it_ ," Ramjet answered, the last member of Cyclonus' seeker trine.

" _The coordinates we were given_ ," Cyclonus' red optics narrowed in suspicion, " _where do they lead_?"

" _The center planet, captain_."

" _And the ones we decoded from the Autobot transmission_?"

Ramjet checked his database, " _Also the center planet_."

" _Do you think it is a trap_?" Thrust asked.

" _Two transmissions from two different factions with the same coordinates_?" Cyclonus raised an optic ridge, " _It is either a trap, or that planet is divided between Autobot and Decepticon forces. But a trap for who? For Decepticons to capture Autobots? Or for Autobots to lure in Decepticons? We will not know for certain until we go and investigate, any concerns about approaching further into this galaxy_?"

" _I say go on_ ," Thrust voted.

Ramjet rolled his shoulder plates, " _I have nowhere pressing to be_."

" _Alert Thundercracker and Skywarp of our findings, Ramjet, and that we will be proceeding to the center planet_."

" _Like those two will care what we do_ ," Ramjet muttered, sending the report to Thundercracker's link. " _They'll probably hope it's a trap so they can recklessly throw themselves at some Autobots_."

Cyclonus winced as he piloted the ship towards the planet; Ramjet was, sadly, right in his estimation. Since the two younger seekers had felt the death of Starscream years ago they had become almost suicidal in any conflicts with Autobots or other species, Skywarp more so than Thundercracker. The larger blue and white mech was more was by no means less affected by the gaping hole in the seeker bond he shared with Skywarp and Starscream, but Thundercracker seemed more inclined to make the Autobots pay rather than trying to get himself killed.

Skywarp on the other servo had only one thing from taking the action himself to off-line his spark, and that was Thundercracker. What remained of the bond that had once held Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp together was not enough to keep reality from slipping away from the smaller seeker. At times Cyclonus had caught Skywarp talking to himself, and sometimes when he had just emerged from recharge the teleporter claimed he had felt Starscream through the fragmented bond. The only two things that seemed to help cement Skywarp to the here and now were Thundercracker and fighting Autobots, in the case of his comrade the purple and black seeker would depend on him for everything, needing to be reminded when to recharge or refuel, and when they met Autobots Skywarp threw out his experience and knowledge of tactics and would charge head on, blasting whoever was in front of him until there was nothing but pieces left behind.

" _Approaching the planet_ ," Cyclonus said. " _Any further readings_?"

" _There is a Cybertronian ship on the planet, scanners identify it as the Nemesis but it has limited power, only essential systems functioning and the main core is off-line_." Thrust sent a deeper scan at one of the objects orbiting the planet, " _There are eight objects moving in organized circles around the planet, seven of them are similar to each other in build and function, the eighth looks like a small ship of some sort, technology is primitive compared to ours_. _There is a port I can hack on the nearest object, permission to continue_?" Cyclonus nodded and he and Ramjet waited until Thrust finished, " _What a wealth of information_!"

Thrust's exclamation made Cyclonus and Ramjet look at each other, " _Thrust, what did you find_?"

" _I'm sending you the packets I just downloaded from the 'satellite', and check this out, not only can we learn new languages but also different dialects and pronunciations in those languages_!"

Ramjet shook his helm, "How do I sound?"

"Strange, this language has so many rules, it's unbelievable," Cyclonus said, listening himself to how his voice now sounded speaking the humans' language called English.

"The development of this particular language came from a group of other languages, primarily German but it does retain the spelling of certain words from the romantic languages such as French but the pronunciation differs," Thrust said, earning looks from the other two members of his trine.

"Why are you speaking like that? You sound funnier than we do."

"I decided to use a British accent, since they were the first people to speak this language. I find their more polished way of speaking to be more desirable, than that of their American counterparts."

"Whatev," Ramjet said, already having downloaded slang terminology and liking it immensely. His casual attitude was thrown off when a sensor beeped on his console, "Incoming transmission from the planet, captain."

"Put it through."

The screen in front of Cyclonus went black for a second before an image of Megatron appeared, startling all three seekers who instantly snapped to attention. "Lord Megatron!"

" **As you were** ," Megatron ordered, and they each relaxed their stance. " **I am pleased that it is still you captaining the** _ **Vengeance**_ **, Cyclonus, your fates were unknown to any of us after your ship left for that deep space exploration**."

"Lord Megatron," Cyclonus dipped his helm slightly, "I took my orders to find a new planet after Cybertron crumbled very seriously, but despite my endeavors I could not find one that bore any resemblance to our home planet. The only one that came close was a junkyard planet that had less than ideal neighbors."

" **It is of no matter** ," Megatron said, surprising them. " **We have currently made this planet, Earth, our home, at least as a rendezvous point where all our remaining people may converge before we set of to restore Cybertron**."

"Restore? It is possible?"

" **Very possible, thanks to a few artifacts we have found on this planet, the others lie spread out through the universe, but it will take many ships and Cybertronians working together to find them all. The** _ **Nemesis**_ **is currently in no shape to move off-planet and the rebuilding of Cybertron will take all of its people."**

"Including the Autobots?"

" **Yes, much has happened since we last saw each other, Cyclonus. I will send you a datapacket containing everything that has conspired the past year. When you land I will meet you along with Orion Prime**."

The transmission ended and the bridge was silent.

"Who's Orion Prime?" Ramjet asked, looking to Thrust, who looked at Cyclonus.

The captain had a thought of who Orion Prime was, for the Decepticon seeker had been one of the few at the beginning of the rebellion who had known of Orion Pax's involvement. The datapacket would make for some interesting reading to be sure.

"Datapacket received," Thrust reported.

"Copy it and send a file to everyone on the ship, tag it as vital information that needs to be downloaded immediately."

Five minutes was all it took for the datapacket to be downloaded into each of their frames and the information compressed, deciphered and filed. Five minutes, such a short expanse of time yet how different things were after the last second ticked on by. Cyclonus had just enough time to realize that the war was over, the Autobots on Earth had realized they'd been duped by the council, the deranged scientist Shockwave had tried to reinitialize the council's slave code, using his own twisted reasons and programming to do so, but had thankfully been stopped by a joint effort of the Autotbots and Decepticons. And Starscream was still alive.

That one sentence was like a train wreck, derailing all other thought and sent a spiraling feeling all through Cyclonus, as if he had been hit by a jet of anti-freeze fluid.

Starscream was alive.

That was when the explosion rocked the ship, sending the bridge crew staggering at their posts and gripping consoles as the _Vengeance_ lurched violently. Klaxons sounded throughout the ship and Cyclonus steadied himself as the ship righted its own self.

"What happened?" the captain yelled.

"Internal explosion on the crews quarter level, major damage to several rooms, including your own, but no hull damage," Thrust answered. "No security tapes near the area are functioning."

"Ramjet take the helm," Cyclonus ordered, pushing himself away from the pilot's station and making his way to the elevator. "Take us down to the coordinates Megatron gave us, I'm going to see what happened."  
Although he said it, Cyclonus had only one suspicion of what had caused the explosion on the ship, and by the looks of his trine members they were thinking along the same lines.

Finding out that a trine member who you thought was dead, and whose supposed passing had caused an emotional rift, was actually alive would make anyone, Cyclonus included, start blasting at things.

The elevator opened on the crews' quarter level and Cyclonus stepped out, blasters ready to prime if need be, but when he reached the damaged section the captain found that the crisis had passed.

Skywarp was down on his knee joints, pushing debris in a pile while Thundercracker looked hopelessly at a destroyed door. Cyclonus had not seen them like this in a long time, Skywarp trying to clean up something he had broken while Thundercracker wondered how he could cover for his wingmate. It was almost normal behavior for them, like they had been before Starscream's link had been severed, but for the fact that Skywarp was babbling made Cyclonus realize that it would take a lot more to repair this trine.

"Gotta get down to the surface, gotta find 'im, gotta 'elp 'im. Yes, yes Gotta clean, gotta fix, gotta get down to the surface."

Thundercracker, still looking a little lost, laid a servo on Skywarp's shoulder pad, "We will fix the bond, after I punch Starscream a few times."

Skywarp wheeled around, grabbing his trine brother's servo, "Can't 'urt 'im, can't 'urt 'im. Need 'im, gotta be complete again, need 'im."

"He will not be permanently damaged," Thundercracker said, and when Skywarp still looked uncertain he added, "Don't you want to make him pay for all the anguish we've endured these past few years?"

Skywarp bobbed his helm, "Gotta pay, can't go free, gotta pay big time. Smack 'im down, 'it 'im 'till 'e go splat!"

"Not that hard," Thundercracker said, and then he noticed Cyclonus was standing in the destroyed hallway. "What do we land?"

"Soon," Cyclonus answered, he then looked pointedly around at the destruction."

"We'll clean it up once we fix the bond with Starscream," Thundercracker promised, and then looked blankly at Skywarp when the smaller mech keened at the mention of their lost trine brother.

{ _Time Break – everyone go grab a coffee, or whatever beverage you favor_ }

The _Vengeance_ landed on a stretch of land outside the former Autobot base, in a state called Nevada in one of the largest countries on the planet. When the landing pad was lowered and Cyclonus led the seeker contingent out of the ship, they were met by Lord Megatron and Orion Prime, formerly known as Optimus. It was a strange sight, to see these two titans side-by-side, whereas before they had been enemies who only got close to one another when locked in combat.

"Welcome to Earth," Orion Prime greeted. "Cyclonus, it has been a long time."

"It has indeed, Prime," Cyclonus said. He was willing to accept this alliance, willing to become one force that strove for the betterment of the Cybertronian race, but forgetting Orion's betrayal to Megatron and the Decepticon cause would take some time.

There were other Cybertronians gathered to meet them, a mixture of former Autobots and Decepticons. Cyclonus wandered how they could easily stand next to each other without keeping a blaster primed after so many years of fighting each other on one battlefield or another. "So much has changed."

"Yes," Megatron said, "and will continue to change. We are returning to how our people were before the golden council's corruption, but we are also making our own way, forging new traditions and," the lord protector looked at Orion, "we are also building a friendship with the organic intelligent race of this planet, to such an extent that has never been seen in Cybertronian history before."  
"Screamy!"

The yell caught everyone's attention and all optics swiveled to look at Skywarp, who had slipped away from Thundercracker's grip and was now running full speed at a slight gray mech at the back of the welcoming party. Cyclonus was torn, wondering if he should interfere or let Starscream get the beating he had coming to him, though what the other seeker had suffered at Shockwave's servos seemed to be enough punishment in the captain's processor.

Cyclonus need not have bothered to do anything, for Skywarp did not attack Starscream. Well, not in the usual sense of how we understand the word 'attack' to mean. Starscream would definitely have classified it as an attack, if his frozen, horrified stance was anything to go by, and when Skywarp grabbed his former trine leader it most certainly looked like an attack to those who were watching. But had anyone had any fears or concerns they were put to rest when Skywarp started speaking.

"Missed you so much, 'ow you been? Want to fly? Missed you. Why you disappear? You better? Missed you."

Thundercracker, who had taken off after Skywarp as soon as the smaller mech had yelled out, reached his other two trine mates and laid a servo on their shoulder pads. "Let's fly."

Before anyone else could deter them, the three seekers were up in the sky, Starscream, appearing to be reluctant at first but then actively joining them in aerial patterns known only to that particularly trine.

"Shall we continue inside?" Orion Prime asked, "There is energon for everyone, and a few of our human allies and wards are here for you to meet."

"Joy," Cyclonus muttered, "fleshies."

His comment went unheard it seemed but as the group made their way to the base's entrance, Cyclonus remembered the pad he had in his servo. "Lord Megatron, a moment?"

Megatron hung back to let the other pass him before he stepped towards Cyclonus. "What is it, Cyclonus?"

The purple and white seeker handed his leader the pad, "This is a list of the Autobots we ran into during our exploration and whilst making our way here, I would not be looking for their arrival if I were you."

Cyclonus had never seen a grave look over Megatron's faceplate when Autobot casualties were mentioned, but he saw it now.

"I see," the lord protector gazed at the pad, noting there were more than twenty names on it. "I will tell Orion later, for now let us not speak of it."  
Cyclonus nodded and followed Megatron into the base. It did no good to think of those dead Autobots, or of the fact than many of them, if not all, might have been acting against their own wills. Still, now knowing what he did, Cyclonus knew he would not be getting an easy recharge this night.

 **AN: So, what do you think? Next chapter will be an outtake from** _ **United We Stand**_ **, of Raf's meeting with the Twins, so you might want to reread chapter 7 so you know what's going on.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Takes place between chapters 7 and 8 of** _ **United We Stand**_ **.**

 **{The Twins and Raf} – dedicated to Stitchar**

Raf had retreated to Bumblebee's room, pulling himself up on the yellow mech's berth where he curled up as tightly as possible. The arrival of the new Autobots had been a welcome distraction, but upon learning their names and hearing their queries about Bumblebee's whereabouts Raf was brought back to his melancholy state. Not being able to listen to anymore, the boy had fled to his sanctuary, his guardian's room was a respected off-limits to the others and Jack and Miko only entered to remind him to eat or when it was time to return to Jasper.

Raf tried to distract himself by playing a computer game on his laptop, as his thoughts, when left to wander, drew up horrible scenarios on what was happening to Bumblebee. Being young did not limit Raf's imagination by any means, surfing the internet as much as he did had showed the boy what happened to spies or enemies, be they real or fictional, and this knowledge did little else but draw up every worse case scenario it possibly could on what was happening to Bumblebee. He hoped the Autobots had found him on the _Nemesis_ , but a small voice of doubt at the back of Raf's head whispered that it would not be that easy.

A banging caught Raf's attention and he paused the computer game. From the noise filtering through the door, it sounded like someone was opening every door down the hallway and just as quickly shutting them again. When Bumblebee's door opened Raf stared at the two mechs standing in the doorway, their red and yellow paint jobs making them stand out against the brown/gray colors of the base.

"This Bumblebee's room?" The red one asked.

Raf nodded, setting aside his laptop.

"Thought so, he keeps it just like his old room on Cybertron."

"Does he?" Raf looked around the room, forgetting he had seen over a hundred times by now, trying to spot anything that looked alien-planet-like other than the obvious things Bumblebee had showed him. "You guys have known him a long time, he told me you were the ones who found him underneath all that rubble."

"That's right," Sideswipe's smile was fond, the look in his optics showing he was remembering that day. "He was a tiny little thing, just a wee sparkling, like you."  
Sunstreaker snorted, "They look nothing alike, Sides, Bee was normal looking while this runt is a squishy little insect we'll have to tip-toe around the entire time he's around! This is already starting to annoy me."

Sideswipe threw an annoyed look at his twin brother but Raf struggled to keep his eyes clear. Being a younger child in a large family, Raf was no stranger to sibling arguments, they were a normal occasion that drove his parents crazy, annoyed the siblings not involved and a lot of hurtful words could be said in the heat of the moment. Raf knew that, had had his fair share of losing his temper, rare though it had been, but the Esquivel family was stronger because of the arguments. After siblings fought the anger would eventually cool and all it took was one brother or sister to take the first step and say 'I'm sorry, the hardest words to say in any language, Raf thought, and all would be forgiven in the end.

Raf tried to look at this situation as a time when one of his older brothers had gotten annoyed by him hanging around and had snapped. Roberto had said many nasty things, calling Raf annoying, irritating, a nuisance, a pest, but after Raf had burst into tears his older brother had been filled with remorse. Then there was the time when Anton, a brother closer in age to Raf, had quarreled with the computer nerd and Raf, instead of tucking and crying, had fought back.

"There you see!" Sunstreaker yelled. "He's doing something weird with his optics and it's freaking me out! We don't have time for this runt, we've got to find Bumblebee."

"I want to find him too!" Raf yelled, crying and getting angry at the same time. "You think just because you show up now that you've got the right to shove me aside and decide how best to find Bee without knowing this planet or what happened when he went on that mission?" Both new Autobot arrivals looked down at the incensed teenager with surprise showing in their optics, obviously neither of them had thought the boy even knew how to raise his voice. "While you two were traipsing around the universe doing who knows what, Bumblebee and I have been fighting against the Decepticons, disease, Megatron's evil plans, Starscream's twisted schemes, and a lot more! I was there for him! He saved my life, I saved his! You can't shove me aside like a miniscule unwanted bug! He's my brother! My guardian!"

Raf was quite hoarse by the end, gasping for air and wanting to rub his abused throat but refraining from doing so while the Twins were around. The salty trail of tears lined his cheeks, and his eyes were red and stung. His fists were balled up at his sides, he probably looked ridiculous, standing before these two titans like he was ready to fight them, but Raf had reached the end of his rope. He was exhausted, the restless nights spent wondering where Bee was, his obsessiveness in searching so hard he forgot to eat and drink regularly.

Sideswipe looked at Sunstreaker, "I like him."

Sunstreaker agreed, "For a squishy he ain't to bad."

"What?" Raf murmured, stumbling back till he sat down, gazing up at the Twins.

"Sorry about that, tiny brother," Sideswipe said, crouching down, "but Sunny here wasn't sure what you were like and even though we trust Bee's judgment most of the time we had to make sure you were worthy of being a member of the family. Such righteous anger like that because you thought we were slighting Bee as well as you, well that proved to us how much our little Bee means to you. And if he means that much to you, then you must mean a lot to him, and brothers protect family and what their siblings love the most." Sideswipe winked, "Welcome to the family."

Extending his servo, the red mech prompted Raf to climb into the warm palm and the boy curled up in the middle. Sideswipe straightened, bringing the boy close to his chest plates where his spark chamber was. "Get some recharge, Raf, then you can refuel when you wake and wash up."

Sunstreaker sniffed, "Perhaps he should have washed before he went into recharge."

"Quiet Sunny," Sideswipe said, running a finger up and down the boy's back in a soothing motion. "He needs to rest, and we won't be going anywhere for the moment so it's ok."

Sunstreaker growled, "Don't call me 'Sunny', you know I hate that nickname."  
Sideswipe grinned, "But it fits your shining personality so well." The yellow mech curled a servo, and Sideswipe knew his brother was itching to hit him but would not because of the human sparkling currently in their care. "Besides, how come Bumblebee could call you that when he was a sparkling? You didn't object then."

Sunstreaker shrugged, moving around the room as he perused the shelves, "You know Bee had trouble speaking at first, he really struggled to form words and let the anyone say what they will of me I am not that petty or vain to insist a traumatized sparkling say my full name over and over again until he gets it right. The same, I suppose, could be said in your case as well, for I remember little Bee calling you Sides, at your insistence."  
Sideswipe grinned, "You have caught me out, brother." Sides looked down at the sleeping human, " We neither of us torment sparklings, though what you did today came very close."

Sunny did not look repentant, "Ah, but I did not torment him, I merely tested his mettle and it is strong. Now," looking gleeful, Sunstreaker appraised the room, "we need to induct out fleshy brother into the family, and I think I know just how to do that, but I'll need to borrow one his soft upper armor plates. Why is their armor so soft?" Sunstreaker switched topics, the change not surprising his brother as they both did it frequently, "It can't be very protective against the planet's weather."

"Yes, it is strange," Sideswipe said, "as is a lot on this planet I think, but you know what means right?"

Sunstreaker grinned, a very terrifying sight to all who knew what it meant, "Untold possibilities for our prank wars to be brought to a whole new level."

Sideswipe had an equally scary grin, "Exactly."

 **Next issue: Starscream tells all to his trine, and Bumblebee jumps in front of an angry seeker.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Moonflight con: Thanks for the review. As to your suggestion I'm afraid it would not fit with the background story I gave Shockwave. In the _United We Stand_ universe, Shockwave was a minerbot, who destroyed his emotions chip when he saw many of his fellow workers fall due the terrible conditions of the mining colony. Because he was a minerbot he did not have the usual faceplate that other Cybertronians did, rather he had a single optic that aided his sensors in finding the valuable minerals and ores the owners of the mines wanted. **

**FD: Thanks for the review.**

 **This takes place after chapter 6 of the Outtakes.**

 **{Starscream's Trine and Bumblebee} – requested by Screamless**

High in the sky, three planes zoomed back and forth, occasionally coming so close together that their wingtips almost touched. The make and model of each place was different, in fact only one was recognizable as being a U.S. fighter jet, the other two were so foreign that their nationalities could have been debated and researched for a whole year without ever finding who had built them. For they were not from any country on Earth, in fact neither was the U.S. fighter, they were alien robots from the planet Cybertron.

Although seeing the Cybertronians around Earth was not an everyday occurrence, still the humans had gotten use to seeing their living robot guests fairly well. Enough so as not to gawk every time they happened to see the Transformers moving around. Three seekers zooming about in the sky was enough to draw envious looks from human pilots, or children who dreamed of flying one day, but no alarm of national security went up nor did people panic or clamber to take videos. Humanity had learned that the Cybertronians valued their privacy, and only allowed films of themselves to circulate that they approved of.

Still, the desert of Nevada was virtually empty and a perfect place to practice aerial maneuvers in relative privacy. There was only one person standing outside the Cybertronian Outpost 1, watching the seekers zip about around one another. Well, he was not a person in the way that we understand a person to be, meaning human, but a Cybertronian.

His black and yellow painting was shiny, the sun flashing off it whenever the former Autobot scout moved to keep the seekers in view. Bumblebee was slightly nervous, he would admit that and he was not ashamed to feeling such a thing in regards to a former Decepticon. Starscream and Bumblebee had formed a strange bond of friendship, one that few understood, besides Megatron and Orion Prime. To see his friend now, soaring through the sky with his Trine mates was not something that made Bumblebee jealous, only nervous.

He had seen the way Thundercracker and Skywarp had reacted to seeing Starscream, and though the teleporter seemed to be the most at ease at having fond Starscream alive, the larger seeker's reaction had been worrying. Bumblebee could tell that Skywarp was willing to let bygones be bygones, too relieved at finding his Trine leader alive to think about making Starscream suffer as they had.

Not so with Thundercracker. The seeker was one of the biggest Bumblebee had ever seen, and the blue and white mech seemed to contain enough anger for both him and Skywarp against Starscream's actions. Bumblebee did not really understand what had happened, nor did he fully understand how a bond between a Trine worked, but it seemed a very serious business for all involved.

Which was a reason Bumblebee stood silently watching the seekers above. He had a feeling that once the Trine got over their reunion all the anger and hurt would resurface and Starscream would face his wing-mates' wrath. Bumblebee was not about to stand aside and let his friend be beaten up, no matter how much the gray seeker might deserve a good punch for cutting off his side of the bond.

The three seekers overhead came together to spiral through the sky, dropping lower even as they flipped around each other to complete the maneuver. Each banked in a different direction when coming out of the spiral, their thrusters leaving streaks of white printed across the blue sky as they transformed. Bumblebee watched, a little enviously, as they dropped steadily to the ground.

Finally the three seekers touched the sandy floor, cutting their engines as they came to a full stop. Starscream turned slightly, waving at Bumblebee and looking like he wanted to call the grounder over but was unsure how his Trine would take it. The black and yellow Cybertronian took matters into his own servos and walked over to the Trine, making sure to step to Starscream's right, so he could jump into the fray if need be.

Perhaps Bumblebee was over-preparing, the three seekers had not seen each other in years. Finding Starscream alive just might cool Thundercracker down, then again, looking at the blue and white mech's faceplate Bumblebee reevaluated his opinion once again. Whatever euphoria had settled over the trio as they flew was quickly evaporating between Starscream and Thundercracker; Skywarp on the other servo was just standing there with a dazed look in his optics and a goofy grin on his faceplate.

Suddenly Thundercracker lunged forward, his arm primed back for a swing, her right servo ready to slam into Starscream's face. The blow never landed, as it would have for the gray seeker was too startled by the unexpected move to mount a defense or dodge. Bumblebee lunged forward, one arm striking Thundercracker's, knocking it off course and the other priming a blaster to come up under the bigger seeker's chin plate.

"Cool down," Bumblebee growled, thankful more than ever right at that moment that Megatron had helped get his vocal chords replaced. Beeping just did not have the right intimidation factor, in fact many of the former Decepticons had told him that were it not for Bumblebee's fighting skill and blasters they would have had a hard time taking him seriously.

Thundercracker growled menacingly, who knew what he was getting ready to do, his frame tensing and his optics narrowing dangerously.

"I wouldn't try anything with him, Thundercracker," Stascream spoke up, gaining some confidence in his voice but nowhere near the way it had been before Shockwave. "Lord Megatron adopted him as his heir, and would certainly not take it kindly if you should rough him up." Starscream placed a servo on Bumblebee's shoulder pad, "Thank you, my friend, but I can fight my own battles now. And in this case, their anger towards me is greatly justified." When Bumblebee still had not moved Starscream sighed, "You can move out of the way now."

"Not until he backs off and agrees to listen."

Starscream looked at Thundercracker, "Will you give me a chance to explain, Thundercracker?"

The big mech said nothing, but instead turned his helm to look at Skywarp, who was looking at the situation with wide optics while twiddling his thumb joints nervously.

"We hear him out, Thundy?" Skywarp asked. "We not really mad anymore, yeah? Back together, not going to let him cut us off again."

Venting harshly, Thundercracker lowered his arms and stepped back. Bumblebee waited a second before doing the same and the four of them stood awkwardly, waiting for someone to start.

"Oh come on everybody!" Skywarp yelled, startling Bumblebee as the purple and black seeker jumped excitedly from one ped to another. "Screamy is here! We're three again! We're the kings of the sky!"

Thundercracker glared at Starscream, "You see what you did? You cut off your end of the bond, he went mad, we both went mad! You selfish, rusted bucket of—"

"Yes," Starscream said, interruption Thundercracker. "Yes, I was selfish. After you left I couldn't stand the loneliness, and when I started to think of supplanting Megatron as the Decepticon Warlord I knew I had to sever the bond, lest you find out about my plans. With our bond now stabilizing again, I realize that after I did so I started to go a little mad, it explains many of my plans and why I ever went along with Shockwave. I am sorry for everything that I did, for all the pain I have caused the both of you and I know that I do not deserve your forgiveness. Yet I hope, that in time, you will forgive me, until then I do not deserve to be the leader of this Trine. Thundercracker, you have remained strong despite everything that happened, and along the three of us you have the right to lead us."

"Thundy lead!" Skywarp cheered, then he looked thoughtful. "But Screamy is leader, has always been leader," in agitation the teleport mech clapped his servos on either side of his helm, "Can't process! Can't process!"

Thundercracker tapped Skywarp on his arm, "Calm down, Sky, as angry as I am at our Trine brother, he will remain our leader." The bigger mech looked at Starscream, "I don't know if I can forgive you, but I want to move on. It's been a shock, finding you alive but you've more than paid for what you did thanks to Shockwave." Rolling his shoulder pads, Thundercracker huffed, "Enough of this sappy sentiment, let's fly."

"But you just flew!" Bumblebee protested. His words were ignored however as Thundercracker and Skywarp took off once again, Starscream smiled at the black and yellow scout before joining them. Bumblebee cycled air through his vents in annoyance, "Seekers."

 **AN: Sorry for the long wait, hope you enjoyed it. Anyway, next chapter will be: Raf takes on a bully, with the help of (?) Can you guess who helps Raf?**


End file.
